k that he would escape
any sort of personal encounter with Hallo, and he was glad of that. He
had the same feeling that Stepan had expressed to Milikoff, although, of
course, he knew nothing of that talk, nor of how Hallo had happened to
come to this place. It seemed to him that Hallo would be worth more to
the Servians alive than dead, and it was certain that the only chance
for the success of the mission that had brought him from New York to
Semlin would be gone if anything happened to Hallo.

From his position, crouched down in the bottom of the boat, Dick could
see the closet door. And, as it began to move again, after five nerve
racking minutes, Dick clutched his revolver, feeling that it was a
pretty good thing to have as an ally, even if it was so unlikely that he
would have occasion to use it. His fear had passed away altogether by
this time, and a bold plan was beginning to come into his mind. But its
execution depended upon Hallo and what that swindler might do next.

For just a second, as Hallo came out into the boathouse, Dick thought of
starting up suddenly, covering him with a revolver, and forcing him to
surrender. But he decided against that. Mike Hallo, as he knew, was not
without a certain crude sort of physical courage. If he was armed--as it
was practically certain that he was--he might be able to put up a good
struggle. And, though Dick was no longer afraid for himself, he felt
that it would involve too great a risk of letting the man get clear away
if he followed his impulse.

So he kept perfectly still, instead, while Hallo came out and finally
stood in the middle of the part of the boathouse that had a floor. He
leaned forward, like a bird dog when it is in doubt, and seemed to be
sniffing the air, though Dick knew that he was really only listening
with concentrated attention. He was listening, not for a real noise, but
for those almost inevitable sounds that the quietest person must make.
It seemed extraordinary to Dick that Mike could not hear his breathing,
or the beating of his heart, which sounded so abnormally loud to him.
But hear them Mike did not, evidently, for after a moment he relaxed and
heaved a sigh of relief.

"I'm getting jumpy," he said to himself, aloud, in English. "I guess
that wasn't anything I heard before. Just a board creaking, maybe!"

Dick grinned and maintained his silence. And then Hallo, after walking
about for half a minute, looked toward the boat.

"If only I